Often, pain equals gain for Spurs

The question seems to follow Boris Diaw wherever he goes, posed in both French and English by fans and friends alike.

What position do you prefer to play exactly?

To which Diaw, the Spurs’ forward/center/wing always is ready with a quick reply.

“To be on the court,” Diaw said. “The position is not that important. It’s to be on the court and be able to help.”

When the Milwaukee Bucks visit the AT&T Center tonight to face a Spurs team almost comically cursed at small forward, Diaw has an opportunity to help his team in ways he might not have previously imagined.

With Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Jackson and possibly Danny Green all on the injured list, there’s a chance Diaw could be the Spurs’ starting small forward.

Though the 6-foot-8 Diaw began the season as the Spurs’ undersized starting center, he has a history on the wing.

Before arriving in Phoenix in 2005-06 and becoming a hybrid frontcourt player in Mike D’Antoni’s revolutionary small-ball system, Diaw considered himself a small forward.

“When I got to Phoenix, I was really a wing playing the four,” Diaw said. “But for a long time, I was coming back and playing the three in France for the national team during the summer.”

If Green is unable to play tonight because of a sore left hamstring, coach Gregg Popovich has options for replacing him other than Diaw. None of them are optimal.

Manu Ginobili could shift to the starting lineup, though that would remove a weapon off the Spurs’ potent bench. Popovich also could turn to James Anderson, a third-year pro signed out of the Development League a little more than two weeks ago.

Whatever route Popovich chooses, the Spurs aim to make the best of an injury-depleted situation.

“Over the course of an 82-game season, everybody knows there’s going to be opportunities for pretty much everybody on the roster,” said guard Gary Neal, who plans to play tonight despite a sore left Achilles. “When you get a chance to play, all it can do is build confidence.”

The Spurs have a track record of using the occasional injury epidemic as an impetus to self-discovery.

Last season, for instance, the Spurs used an early-season injury to Ginobili to find a new starting shooting guard.

Green thrived in the 22 games Ginobili missed with a fractured shooting hand last January, paving the way for the three-year, $11.29 million guaranteed contract Green signed in July.

Games such as last week’s controversial loss in Miami — in which a Spurs roster of nine lost to the defending NBA champions by just five points — only serve to bolster the team’s bench.

“I think situations like this are in the long-term great for the whole group,” Ginobili said. “At first you suffer a little bit, but this is going to give a lot of players confidence.”

A 30-year-old veteran of nine NBA seasons, Diaw is not lacking in that department. Still, the past few weeks have been crucial in giving Spurs coaches an up-close glimpse of Diaw’s versatility.

On the Spurs’ recently completed road trip, Diaw filled in as a backup small forward in a handful of games. In Miami, he did a credible job of defending LeBron James, the NBA’s three-time MVP.

The corner 3-pointer is an offensive staple for the Spurs’ wing players. Since joining the team as a free agent last March, Diaw has made 17 of 31 attempts from long range.

“(Diaw) being able to play some three and four has helped us get through,” Popovich said.

Diaw’s teammates have been amazed by the chameleon-like adaptability of a big man who earlier in his career also logged time at point guard.

“He’s a guy who could play all five positions,” center Tiago Splitter said.

With the bad luck of any more injuries, the Spurs might have to put that to the test soon.